After Wheeler Peak, I knew that I was going to have a rough few days. Indeed, it was. The past week has definitely been the most intense at UWC yet. The week started off relatively quiet--deceptively quiet. Monday and Tuesday flew by in a blur--classes and activities going as normal.
It wasn't really until Wednesday that I hit a brick wall. Wednesday started out normal enough, with my classes wrapping up around 11 (AM). Then came the essay. I literally locked myself in my room, turned off the internet, and worked for a solid 3 hours on writing an essay. Needless to say, by the time I was done, I was pretty exhausted. Was I done for the day? Of course, being at UWC, the answer was a resounding NO. I had a four hour shift at Casa De Samaritan Homeless Shelter. Casa de Samaritan is an project run by Samaritan House, the one of the biggest non-profits in Las Vegas (NM). Samaritan House also runs a thrift store and a food kitchen. Casa de Samaritan was started about two years ago by a collaboration of Samaritan House, UWC, New Mexico Highlands University, and local high schools. As such, UWC takes a pretty big role in running the shelter and making sure everything runs smoothly.
Sharon (Dean of CAS, and other activities) picked Mauri (one of my co-years) and I up around 5:30. We drove into the shelter, arriving while the health inspector was visiting. The health inspector was pretty mean, giving us a hard time about all of our equipment, etc. To be honest, it was pretty unnecessary; it's a charity, for goodness' sake. Overall, though I was tired, it was a great experience. I met some really interesting people, and learned that being homelessness isn't because they were stupid or made choices; often, it was just bad luck.
After a totally draining Wednesday, I was ready a quiet couple of days. Wait, this is UWC: There's no such thing as quiet time! Thursday was a pretty normal day--up until about 11:30 PM. At 11:30, all the firsties were corralled into the dayroom. We were then taken down to the front of the auditorium and given a lecture, if you will. The lecture culminated with a UWC tradition--Howling at the Moon! Basically, the idea is to go around to every teacher/administrator's house on campus, and howl until they wake up. It was really fun running around campus howling at everyone; I do think I lost my voice though.
Friday, as a result, was an even quieter day! I was so tired that it was difficult to keep myself awake until after check! I justified going to bed early, because it was going to be a very busy weekend. On Saturday morning, I didn't wake up until around 10 (very leisurely lie-in, I must say!!). After working out for about an hour, I got breakfast, and prepared for Castle Tours. Every Saturday, UWC offers tours of the castle and Dwan Light Sanctuary. The tours are guided by student docents like me. It's a lot of fun, and it's really neat to meet other people from the community.
On Sunday, I had a TON of stuff to do! From the eye-watering hour of 8 AM, we had to pack for Grand Canyon. As the cook on our trip, I assisted with food packing (we have to carry 60 pounds of food for 10 people!!). I then packed my own pack. Grand Canyon looks like it's going to be really cool. I'm on the Boucher Trail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boucher_Trail) which is considered longest and one of the hardest trails on the South Rim of the canyon. I'm really excited about the hike--we have a great team, and cool guides. I'll post once I get back on Monday.
Finally, Monday was a pretty intense day. Today, I had to turn in my English essay (a difficult assignment) and do an oral presentation. Normally, neither of these would even bother me, but for some reason, I always get nervous around my English teacher, Hannah. Ultimately, though, the presentation went pretty well, and I got my essay in on time.
That's it for now...I'll post about the Grand Canyon when I get back. Wish me luck!!
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